Washington, DC— Today, environmental, environmental justice, and international development groups are releasing the “Fair Shares Nationally Determined Contribution” (“Fair Shares NDC”) laying out the measures the United States should commit to carrying out to do its “fair share” of the global effort to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, based on its status as the world’s wealthiest country and largest historical carbon polluter. This model document comes in advance of the April 22-23 Leaders’ Summit on Climate hosted by President Biden, ahead of which the United States is expected to unveil a new NDC as part of its reentry into the Paris Agreement.
The U.S. Fair Shares NDC commits the United States to:
- the equivalent of 195% emissions reductions from 2005 levels by 2030 (i.e., 14 gigatonnes of GHG emissions annually by 2030). This can be achieved by cutting domestic emissions 70% (5 gigatonnes) and providing international finance to enable the equivalent of an additional 125% reduction in developing countries (9 gigatonnes).
- at least $800 billion in international climate finance contributions between 2021-2030, equally split among finance for mitigation, adaptation, and the loss and damage caused by irreversible climate change ($267 billion each) as a good faith down payment toward the U.S. fair share of international climate finance.
The Fair Shares NDC is grounded in the need to address systemic inequalities and promote environmental justice, human rights, and gender equality. It includes measures to swiftly end the fossil fuel era and equitably achieve emissions reductions, justly transition the U.S. to be powered by 100% renewable and clean energy, ensure the resilience of impacted communities, and provide climate finance for developing countries.
The endorsing organizations are calling on the Biden administration to put forward a revised official U.S. NDC with targets that match the ambition of the Fair Shares NDC, with an implementation plan to reach those targets that prioritizes justice and equity for marginalized and vulnerable communities at home and abroad.
Erich Pica, President of Friends of the Earth U.S., said:
President Biden has made an unprecedented commitment to environmental justice and frontline communities, a commitment which must extend beyond U.S. borders. This requires the U.S. to do its ‘fair share’ of the global effort, consistent with it being the world’s largest economy and greatest historical emitter of greenhouse gases. A fair share that prioritizes the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable in both the U.S. and in developing countries requires the U.S. to cut domestic emissions 70% from 2005 levels by 2030 and provide international finance to enable the equivalent of an additional 125% reductions in developing countries. This is the yardstick by which we will measure President Biden’s soon-to-be unveiled Nationally Determined Contribution.
Niranjali Amerasinghe, Executive Director of ActionAid USA, said:
The United States is the biggest single contributor to the climate emergency, and doing our fair share to fix the crisis we’ve caused will require much more than a transition to a more just and sustainable economy here at home. In poorer countries around the world, people who have done the least to cause the crisis are the ones being left to face its impacts, without enough resources to cope. The Biden administration must commit to massively ramping up international support to ensure those countries can undergo their own transitions and protect their most vulnerable communities from the impacts of climate change. To do right by the world, the United States must pull its weight and do our fair share – not throw our weight around trying to shift the blame elsewhere.
Bridget Burns, Executive Director of the Women’s Environment and Development Organization, said:
The Fair Shares NDC provides a critical roadmap for effective U.S. climate action that delivers climate justice. The imperative to recognize historical and ongoing injustices must be matched by the commitment to redress them, by embedding human rights, gender equality and environmental justice into all action, centering the leadership of the most marginalized, and ensuring the right of all people to live on a healthy and peaceful planet.
Endorsing organizations of the U.S. Fair Shares NDC are ActionAid USA, Care About Climate, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Corporate Accountability International, Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth U.S., Gulf Coast Center on Law and Policy, Oil Change International, Sunrise Movement, SustainUS, Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), and 350.org.
Link to Fair Shares Nationally Determined Contribution
Communications contact: Molly Boyle, molly.boyle@fpmgi.com, 202-777-3668; Erin Jensen, Ejensen@foe.org